


Endless

by Indulgenceahoy



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, No Romance, One Shot, Sad, not sure if gaster or not, post pacifist run, soriel maybe if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-10
Updated: 2016-11-10
Packaged: 2018-08-30 05:57:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8521057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indulgenceahoy/pseuds/Indulgenceahoy
Summary: Time takes its toll on Sans.





	

The snowball battle had been fierce.  It was everyone for themselves, except for the unspoken and undisputed rule that every monster was to be merciful towards Frisk.  Another rule, this one yelled out very early on - as they usually are in snowball battles-  was that no magic was allowed.   And despite that there had been grumbles and aaawww’s aplenty it had been (so far) obeyed.

 

Undyne had been the obvious tank in this battle, getting a good hit on everyone at least a dozen of times.  However, Papyrus was not far behind, being particularly adept at sneaking his attacks in.  If it wasn’t for the fact that he would stop everything from time to time to plan his next strategy and, perhaps, build a puzzle and a fort to go with it, he could very easily be the clear winner.

 

The blackhorse of this battle had been Toriel, however.  With well-timed attacks and use of the terrain she had gotten a good hits in.  Of course, one just needed to sniffle or say “ow” for her to leave herself open as she came to help you.  Even Sans had used this tactic on her… uh well, in fact, he had been the ONLY one to use this tactic on her.  By the seventh or eighth time, she stopped believing his attempts at distraction and, was actively ignoring his puns and teases, if not all together stopping smiling or even giggling at them.

 

Asgore and Alphys had decided to sit the battle out and instead, watched from afar, casually making friendly bets on who would get the drop on who.  So far, Asgore was winning, much to Alphys surprise. 

 

Their small settlement on the Surface had been going good so far.   In the end they had decided for an area just outside one of the major human cities.  A few monsters even lived in the city nowadays, but this small group of friends had decided that a more rural life suited them better.  It had taken quite a bit of negotiation on part of the former King and Queen and the humans for them to be able to buy a large piece of land.  They may not be a couple anymore, but they still worked well together.  Running a country for a few hundreds of years gave you quite a bit of experience with negotiations. 

 

Changing seasons had been a bit of an experience for everyone. Living a place that had snow only some of the time had been strange for the skeleton brothers.  It had been short lived strangeness.  Sunny days and rainy afternoons had been an unexpected delight.   Undyne had learned to live the the hotter days by living close to the small lake that came with the land.  She had also become the unofficially official local forest ranger, keeping curious onlookers at bay and convincing would be hunters that they had no business near their settlement which had been named Newer Home. 

 

Asgore had been especially proud of that name.

 

And so, a little over a year had gone by.

 

And that day, a snowball fight had broken out.  Nobody was sure who had started it, but they were all very willing participants.   Snow flew back and forth with no signs of stopping any time soon.  Snorts and giggles filled the air and maybe there had been some property damage, that nobody would notice until the next day.

 

Undyne was determined to be declared champion of this battle with no real enemies.  She was merciless towards anybody not called Frisk.   Whether the child was aware of this advantage, they gave no sign. They ran around with wild abandon with one or two snowballs at the ready. 

 

Papyrus and Sans had started as a joint force, but Sans had eventually disappeared, only showing up here and there for easy shots.  The time between appearances had become longer and longer, and everybody knew it was just his way of participating without spending too much energy doing so. 

 

Still, Papyrus always kept a watchful eye out out of brotherly instinct.  Of course, he would’ve prefered for Sans to just stay at his side, even if it meant he would sneak a nap now and then inside one of his younger brother’s snow forts. 

 

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sans appear from behind a tree and throw a snowball at Undyne.   He didn’t put much force behind it, but it had been well aimed and, it hit their behind one of her ears making her spin around in a fury. 

 

Papyrus did a mental “uh oh” and ducked behind his snow wall.  He had expected Sans to duck behind the tree as well but he hadn’t.  He just stood there with a blank expression on his face for a second, then he rose his right hand to rub his forehead the next.  On the the third second, Papyrus was on his feet running towards him, realizing that Undyne’s retaliation was on its way towards his brother. 

 

The fish monster had thrown four snowballs in quick succession towards Sans, not realizing his distracted state.   One hit him square in the chest, while the rest had been stopped by Papyrus’ back.    The hit made Sans stumble back but he shook it off easily.  He had been more surprised and, honestly, impressed at Papyrus quick thinking and defense of his wellbeing.  

 

“Woah, bro” he said

 

“ALWAYS ... AT … THE... READY!” said Papyrus proudly between huffs, catching his breath from his short but really fast run.  “REALLY, BROTHER, YOU NEED TO BE MORE CAREFUL”

 

“Guess I spaced out for a second there” grinned Sans.

 

“ARE YOU ALRI…”

 

“PAPYRUS!, NO FAIR!” He heard Undyne yell behind him.  “ARE WE PLAYING IN TEAMS NOW!??”

 

“Uh oh” said Sans and this time he did use the tree for protection, pulling Papyrus along with him as a new barrage of snowballs started hitting their previous position.   “she’s out for blood”

 

“QUICKLY, BROTHER! TO MY FORT!” exclaimed Papyrus with renewed vigor. 

 

“Nah, I’m willing to concede defeat” said Sans raising his hands in mock surrender.

 

“AH C’MON!” encouraged Papyrus grabbing one of Sans’ hands and pulling him up and forward “WE, THE AMAZING SKELETON BROTHERS CAN TAKE ON THE FORMER CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD”

 

Sigh. “I guess” half complained Sans as he was pulled to yet another snow fort.  How did his brother manage to get so many done anyway?  As he tried to keep pace with his brother, who held his hand hostage, he behind noticing that the edges of his vision were becoming blurry.  He shook his head to get rid of it but the motion only seemed to make it worse.  “Hey, Papyrus, wait…”

“YOU TAKE THE LEFT SIDE AND I’LL…. SANS?”  Papyrus stopped when he realized that Sans had fallen to his knees.  He let go of his brother’s hand and got down on one knee in front of him.  “BROTHER?” 

 

Sans raised his head and rubbed the left side of it.  “Sorry bro, got a little light headed.  maybe i’m getting too much exercise…” 

 

“ARE YOU ILL?” Papyrus concentrated his vision and checked Sans HP.  It was full at 1 HP.  He then proceeded to put a hand on the top of his skull.  No fever either.  

 

“I’m fine.  Like I said, just had too much exercise” said Sans patiently.  His bony face looked oddly flushed, which made Papyrus frown. 

 

“AHA!!” shouted Undyne catching up with them with an armful of snowballs.  “You really though you could escape my WRATH?!”

 

The need to prove to Papyrus that he was “fine” drove Sans to get up in a hurry.  His initial idea had been to use his magic (forget the rules!)  to tumble the snow on the trees surrounding them onto Undyne with Plan b being, make sure to apologize profusely later. Unfortunately, the moment he was on his feet, his body decided that it was not a position it wanted to be on.  The whole world tilted and swayed before his eyes.  His soul felt strange, sore … tired. 

 

He looked at Papyrus, who had a panicked expression on his face and towards Undyne, who had stopped her attack in mid swing, obviously confused by what she was witnessing.  He agreed with them.  What the hell was going on?  What…

 

He felt himself falling. 

 

“BROTHER!” Papyrus caught Sans before his knees hit the ground again.  Sans sighed and grew heavy in his arms.  “SANS!”

 

Undyne dropped her snowball artillery and rushed over to Papyrus’ side.  “Paps, What’s going on?.  I didn’t hit him that hard, did I?” 

 

“NO, I DON’T THINK SO, I … I THINK HE FAINTED” mumbled Papyrus maneuvering his brother so he was now resting face up against his chest.  “HIS HP IS FULL”

 

He looked up at Undyne expectantly.  He could see that she was checking Sans herself and could not come up with any answers. 

 

“Stay here” she said “I’ll go get Toriel”

 

Papyrus watched his friend run off and he held on tight to his brother.   He heard Sans groan and open his eyes a little bit. 

 

“...tired” he said turning his head towards his brother’s chest. 

 

“DON’T WORRY SANS, I’LL MAKE SURE YOU GET ALL THE NAPPING YOU NEED” said Papyrus trying to not let his worry show too much. 

 

“...ok” but Sans gaze seemed to focus on something far away.  His ever-present smile dimmed a little bit.  “bro… where are we?”

 

Papyrus blinked at the question.  “WE’RE ON THE SURFACE, BROTHER! DID YOU FORGET?”

 

“yes… sorry”  Sans made the attempt to get up but Papyrus held him down, claiming that he needed to rest.  “woah, i would have never imagined you telling me to take a nap”

 

“YOU’RE OBVIOUSLY NOT WELL SANS” argued Papyrus. “HAVE YOU NOT BEEN SLEEPING?”’

 

Such an odd question, mused Sans.  Of course, he had been sleeping.  Tons in fact.  He heard voices coming closer.  A shade of regret crossed his thoughts at interrupting their fun. 

 

“Oh dear!” he heard Toriel say to his right.  Soon he felt her paw rest on his chest. 

 

“hi tori” he said, or thought he said, his voice sound a little strange to him. 

 

“Does anything hurt?” she said putting her other paw on his face.  It felt nice. 

 

“nope, just tired” he said.  He didn’t want to mention the weird feeling in his soul, the growing sense of dread behind his thoughts. 

 

_….Unexpected consequences…._

 

Toriel clicked her tongue.  She wasn’t as understanding as Papyrus was and not as easily convinced. 

 

“May I?” she asked letting a flicker of green magic run through her fingers. 

 

“uh… there is no need …”  Sans started saying but the expressions of worry and trepidation on his brother’s and friend’s faces argued with him.  “uh… ok”   He would have rather to add a joke, a funny comment to lighten the mood, but he just couldn’t think of any.  He really was in poor form that day.

 

Toriel nodded and used her green healing magic on Sans.  All monsters could use green magic to some degree, but Toriel was very adept at it, to the point that she could use it to “diagnose” an ailment when no injury was apparent.  Sans eyes began to feel heavier and heavier. The need to sleep, overwhelming.  But he fought it off and concentrated on watching Toriel’s expression instead. 

 

Suddenly, Toriel closed her eyes and frowned deeply.  She opened them back up and looked at Sans.  He looked back at her begging her to not tell. 

 

“I believe you need to take the rest of the day off” she said with an understanding smile. 

 

“From WHAT?” teased Undyne. Although she did sigh in relief right along with Frisk. 

 

“Too much fun” declared Toriel. 

“SEE, BROTHER, I KNEW I WAS RIGHT! YOU JUST NEED A NAP!’ declared Papyrus obviously way more relieved than everyone else. 

 

“i can live with that assessment” yawned Sans.  He winked at Toriel.  The former queen smiled at him but her eyes clearly said “We are talking later”

 

Papyrus got up easily with Sans in his arms.  Everyone was used to Papyrus just walking around carrying Sans at times. For the most part, the smaller skeleton didn’t seem to mind, but rather, look to enjoy it quite a bit.  This time, however, he blushed a bit self-consciously.  He doubted he could walk if he tried to and hated feeling so vulnerable in front of every one of his friends.   No amount of embarrassment could keep him from falling asleep, however.  His body’s demands for rest finally winning. 

 

********

 

When Sans opened his eyes next, it was dark outside.  He sat up disoriented, not recognizing his Surface bedroom right away.  He sat there blinking in the darkness trying to remember what had happened last.   The usual rush that came with Reset wasn’t there, instead, strangely, he felt quite peaceful, if still tired. 

 

He recognized his bed and sheets.  The recently patched up ceiling of his bedroom, and the second-hand curtains on the large window on the far wall. 

 

Last he remembered it had been late morning.  It looked like it was as night time already.  How long had he been sleeping? He only meant to take a short nap, maybe a couple of hours at most. 

 

He felt a chill go up his spine.  He looked down at his clothes to find his sweater and jacket gone.  He was just wearing his undershirt, pants and socks.  He grabbed the thick blanket he had been lying under and pulled it up to his shoulders. 

 

Slowly, memories of that morning returned to him, along with other memories.  A mixed bag of notions from the countless of Resets he had lived through.  He could never keep all the consequent timelines straight.  He had stopped even trying after the first dozen.  It didn’t matter whether he remembered correctly or not, all that mattered was that he remembered the important stuff.  The errors made, the promises not kept. 

 

He remembered him. 

 

He remembered his words. His warning. 

 

_There may be unexpected consequences._

 

He couldn’t remember his face for some reason. He knew him but could not describe anything about him.  A presence in a dream with no name.

 

He could only remember meeting him a handful of times, although he felt it in his soul that there had been many other times. He had given him a chance.  A way around all the resets.  

 

At the time, Sans had not even been aware of the Resets.  Just a weird sense of deja-vu from time to time.  But everyone got that, right?  Just the mind playing weird tricks.  

 

But he had come to him one night.  Surprising the living soul out of him.  He had shown him what was going on.  The endless, destructive loop their world was being doomed to. 

 

Sans had refused.  He was no hero.  No exorbitant amount of courage in these bones, oh no.   

 

The entity had agreed with him.  He was no hero.  He would never be.  But he was a monster of science and curiosity, but more over a monster that once had been human. 

 

Skeleton monsters had always been rumored to have been originated from the remains of humans. Nobody alive _knew for sure_ and, there were no official records about it.  With Sans and Papyrus being the only ones remaining and nobody, not even themselves, being sure of where _they_ came from, you might as well say that skeleton monsters came from tree trunks.

 

Yet, here was this creature saying that humans were his ancestors.  Yeah, right.

 

He had not been perturbed by Sans’ disbelief.  He never brought it up again either. To him, a fact, was just that:  A fact.   Belief had nothing to do with it.

 

He would also not take “no” for an answer.

 

After his first visit Sans disregarded the whole situation as a bad dream.  Then Papyrus started mentioning remembering weird things happening that didn’t happen.  

 

THAT worried Sans. 

 

On the second visit, he asked the entity if he had been visiting his brother as well. 

 

“Not yet” he had said.  “Unlike you, he is too much of a hero.  He wouldn’t be objective.  He only remembers what he does, because he is a skeleton like you”

 

Sans warned him of staying away from Papyrus and the entity had laughed. 

 

“I am not your enemy Sans” he had said “Then again, I’m hardly your friend”

 

“what do you care anyway?  why should we care?  if we don’t remember …” argued Sans

 

“True” interrupted the entity “You also will never be free this way.  All those dreams and hopes everyone has are for nothing.  Can you live with that knowledge, Sans?”

 

“if it's even true…” mumbled Sans.

 

For a second, the entity looked dejected.  Then it reached over and pulled him closer. 

 

“And what if it IS?”

 

In his mind Sans saw a child in a green and yellow sweater.  He saw golden flowers and heard whispered taunts.   He saw his discarded clothes covered in dust just at the first “gate” his brother had built.  He saw his brother catching up to the human asking for an explanation.  A reason.  His bright red scarf fluttering free in the wind as his body was turned to dust. 

 

“stop it!” said Sans stepping away from his not quite “friend”

 

“Can you live with the knowledge and not do anything?” the entity said “Really?  Aren’t you even a little bit _curious?_ ”

 

Sans refused, but his heart wasn’t in it.

 

“what would I have to do?” he finally asked.

 

The rest was a blur in Sans’ mind. A machine, a hurried set of instructions and warnings.   Why did his friend even bother with the warnings Sans never knew.  However, as they got closer to their goal, however, his friend became more and more doubtful … even regretful… in is statements.

 

The last thing Sans remembered him saying was “It is a curious thing, that we do not choose what we are attached to but always welcome it.  Even if it kills us”

 

*******

 

The resets happened, over and over and now Sans remembered them.  Somewhat.  The chance offered had been far from perfect. In fact, in many ways, it was worse than Sans ever expected it to be. 

 

But it had worked.  Somehow.  In the end, it had not been his efforts but others that had ended the vicious cycle.  He liked to think that he had helped in some way, but held no hope that he did.

 

He was about to go back to sleep when he heard the door open quietly.  Toriel peeked in and smiled when she saw that Sans was awake.  On his part the skeleton gulped.

 

“How are you feeling dear?” she said taking a seat next to him on the bed. 

 

“very well rested and ready for the day … eerr, night?” offered Sans. 

 

Toriel looked at him and sighed. 

 

“I am VERY OLD” she said then quickly added “By human standards”

 

“you don’t look a century over a millenia, Tori” said Sans

 

“Sans…”

 

“Tori…”

 

“Sans, like I said, I am very old.  All monsters are long lived by human standards. Me and Asgore have been around for almost as long the Barrier existed.   Most of our peers have sadly, become dust by now”

 

Sans nodded.

“So tell me dear” continued Toriel gently “How is it that your soul is so much older than mine? When I saw it today … it felt ... ancient ...and… you ...”

 

Sans flinched. 

 

“tori … i can’t really explain how, but … i don’t know … i can’t”

 

“Can you at least try?” said Toriel, and for the first-time Sans heard her voice hitch with emotion.  She must’ve been holding it back all this time waiting for him to wake up.  “Sans, my dear friend, you’re…”

 

“dying” guessed Sans with a sigh and Toriel’s silent tears confirmed that he was right.  “i suspected as much.  dying of old age.  they say that’s the way to go”

 

“How is that possible? I mean, your brother’s soul ... “

 

“you sneaked a peek, didn’t you?” said Sans not being able to resist teasing Toriel “he’s fine.  a robust number of decades.  he will be around for a long time” 

 

Toriel stared at him, still waiting for a straight answer.   Sans sighed in defeat.

 

“i guess when you live through a few thousand timelines, it will eventually catch up with you…”

 

Sans explained to Toriel as best as he could.  He didn’t have much of an answer either but rather, good guesses on what was happening.  Unlike the human causing the resets, his own clock didn’t reset back to zero.  His body may be healed or even "reloaded" into the timeline, but his soul was still impacted by time gone by.  In a way, after a while, the resets themselves became what kept him alive despite the toll on his soul. 

 

Now the resets had stopped.  

 

And he had very little time left.

 

They sat in silence for a while watching the sun come up through his bedroom window. 

 

“tori, please don’t tell them” he said finally.

 

Toriel wiped a couple of tears away.  “Sans, is it fair for them to not know that you are leaving us?”

 

Sans brought his knees up to his chest.  “they got their happy ending. no.  we ALL got our happy ending.  i AM happy tori.  i mean, woah, yeah it sucks that i’m a ripe old skeleton now, but, the alternative for me would be to try and find a way to go back all the way to the beginning and,...”

 

Sans leaned over and hugged Toriel fiercely. 

 

“i don’t want to live what i have left on a maybe.  i rather stay here and be happy with you guys for as long as my soul will hold out”

 

Toriel returned the hug and sobbed into Sans’ shoulder.  

A few hours later, Papyrus walked into Sans’s bedroom to check up on him, only to find Sans and Toriel sleeping as they cuddled together.  He found the whole thing quite enchanting, even if he was not quite happy that he hadn’t been invited to the sleep over.

 

*****

 

A few months later Papyrus stood next to the lake near their home.  An early summer shower pelted his skull but he barely noticed it.  He looked at the ripples in the water and wondered …

 

Wondered why his brother was gone. 

 

It was so unfair.  They barely got to enjoy their new freedom.  Why did he get ill?  Why didn’t they get to do all the things they planned to do? 

 

Everyone had been very supportive.  Everyone was there for him but he never felt more alone. 

 

Then he realized that he wasn’t.

 

Papyrus turned and saw him.  Standing right beside him as if he had always been there.  Papyrus gave a little jump.

 

“OOPS, SORRY I DIDN’T REALIZE…”

 

“It’s quite alright” said the entity “I just came to offer you a chance”

 

“A CHANCE?”

 

“Tell me, Papyrus, if you had a chance to be with your brother, to save him, everyone.  Would you refuse?”

 

Papyrus opened his mouth and took a step back.

 

“Could you live with the knowledge that you could’ve done something, but didn’t?”

 

“WHAT… WHAT WOULD I HAVE TO DO…”

 

 

 

 

_It is a curious thing, that we do not choose what we are attached to but always welcome it.  Even if it kills us,_

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Had the "bones" for this for awhile in my google drive. I ended up taking several ideas in this and used them for other stories, but basically this is its own story. Its more of a character study that I wanted to finish.


End file.
